Argyll and Bute Council has announced it is minded to grant permission for a new £24m modern high school facility in Oban.

The Oban High School will have a capacity for up to 1,300 pupils and is expected to be built by spring 2018.

Due to the formal objection from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the council will now notify Scottish Ministers who will take a view, within 28 days, on whether or not to call the application in for their determination.

The council is dedicating £13m towards the project, with the remaining £24m project being funded through the Scottish Government's Schools for the Future programme.

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The project is being spearheaded by hub North Scotland and will see the current school site undergo significant changes over the next three years.

The new building will be constructed on the grass rugby pitch at the current school site, with the 3G pitch remaining in use throughout.

Once the new building is complete, pupils will move in and the old buildings will be demolished, freeing up social space for pupils and improving bus drop-off and car parking provision.

Councillor Rory Colville said: "A new school will help to equip our children for the future; providing them with a fabulous facility in which they can learn and succeed, be ambitious and realise their full potential.

"This is one part of an ambitious £74million investment programme which will also provide new schools for children in Dunoon, Kirn and Campbeltown."

The work on the new school is expected to get underway later this year.

(LM/JP)